Turkey Decision

RBR have been been severely penalised for what happened at this race where the FIA MUST and SHOULD take some of the responsibilty for having a Steward that was totally silent, questions need to be asked as to why he was silent when 2 drivers were openly discussing our driver, the Steward should have told the team our driver was under investigation, this did not happen,. (in Monza 2011 Ross Brawn was told by Stewards about Schumachers driving and cutting and blocking of Hamilton, Schumacher then stopped after Mr Brawn radioed Michael) FACT.

RBR demand that the Steward in question make his notes and dicussions with the FIA public (Freedom of information act) this will satisfy RBR and we can then no which direction we want to take this

Questions that need answering

1. did steward hear the discussion? if yes why did he not do anything?
2. if the steward did not hear, then why? was he muted by other drivers? if yes then why? teams and drivers must make sure drivers have muted everyone except stewards. mic check by steward is a must before the race
3. does steward have the power to warn drivers?
4. Steward rules need to be updated if the steward made mistake
5. if steward makes a mistake, does this make any appeal decision null and void

the FIA MUST tighten up this section because RBR have smart mouth lawyers that will get out of this appeal decision on a technicality, you have 48 hours...... time is ticking tick tock tick tock


RBR will wait until the final outcome from the steward report before makings its next move

Christian Horner & Michael Linner OF Linner, Isiah, Evans, and Sean.
RBR Team Principle & LIES Law Firm

To answer Questions 1 & 2: I did not hear any of the discussions that you imply between drivers questioning your corner trajectories. The only comment I heard from Malaske was fairly early on, who called "Steward" at me; to which I offered immediate reply as to how I could help, without one made back in return that I could vividly hear (Malaske is a fairly softly spoken gentleman). Any other comments I heard between the Renault drivers were normal team-based tactical conversations, mostly about tyres in this instance.
Indeed, I suspect any discussions between drivers, or their attempts to contact me, were dictated sadly by the fact that even those spectating a race are limited to the 'Voice connection allows to talk to the nearest 'x' number of players' - and this is something I have had confirmed to me by other website members for its validity. Thus, it would have needed coincidence of time, space, and the car I was following to engage properly with the relevant parties consistently (a tough task in itself, given I am responsible for watching all 14 cars regularly). Engagement with drivers is something I always intend to enact though, and have done so when needed in all races I oversee on this website.

Question 3: I have full powers to warn and make interjections as appropriate to any driver at any time during a given race, based on enough short-term evidence in the case of corner cutting, or a gut instinct assessment in the case of 'avoidable' accidents. As implied, and as you yourself query, these are important decisions, and the responsibility placed upon me is not something taken lightly - I am trained, have been means tested for requisite skills, and at a basic level wouldn't have volunteered my busy time to simply 'dick' about at your expense, to put it colloquially.

Question 4: I alone cannot offer definitive answer to this, and FiA are already in the process of discussing such factors at the next meeting. Certainly, we could add in some clauses that precisely state potential actions if the initial decision made by a Steward were to be wrong.
However, this is something that the FiA, and myself as Steward, are fully aware of and already factor into decisions; effectively cementing the purpose of why we have, and shall continue, to film races in all leagues - for which I believe such evidence led to your eventual punishment. This allows the opinions of other experienced, level-headed human beings detached from any instantaneous decision I have to make, to make a well-rounded and justified ultimate verdict if mine was in any way doubtful (For example, if my spectator view suffered lag at a given moment, but someone's footage showed the correct game positioning, this is most useful). Effectively, this setting is rather like real life F1 incidents that are 'Investigated after the Race', when live cameras have been known not to pick up the full picture.

Question 5: Given I am perfectly confident in applying my rights laid out in Question 3's response, I fail to view the unfortunate happening for yourself as a mistake, but more simply a symptom of the hindrances this game poses to my job. Unfortunately, unlike the real-life stewards to whom you attempt comparison, I do not have 18 fixed corner cameras, 14 fixed driver cameras, replay or telemetry data. I only have one eye on the action, plus the fact the game may not even allow me to hear all drivers 100% of the time. As with any online racing, a certain degree of trust and competitive integrity need to be adhered to by those taking part, for the sake of everyone's enjoyment.

Indeed, with the aforementioned in mind, I would remind your lawyers that ultimately Red Bull Racing have signed up to a set of Sporting Regulations which have the articles of Rule 8 clearly laid out about track usage. Beyond the fact certain circumstances stopped me from being able to personally administer these rules to you, I had previously made it very clear after the race at China in the post-race lobby that the field's discipline to corner-cutting was verging on poor at times - an air of caution on your part could have been appropriate. This is all hypothetical hindsight now regardless.

Thus, at a more pro-active level of co-operation, maybe you desire a track guide in the same manner that Pro League 1 has? This is something you should suggest to your League moderators for the future. I am as Chief Steward detached at a basic level from this; unless of course you might find it better I verbally narrate a corner-by-corner guide before a race to everyone in the lobby? These are all things which we can work together on for the clarity and benefit of all if you see fit.

I hope this begins an effective dialogue of resolution to your concerns,
Regards,
Charlie Whiting, Resident Disciplinarian

RBR thanks The Chief Steward for being open and honest regarding the Turkish GP

RBR accept the decision from the League but ask the FIA to review the penalty handed out and maybe suspend the ban for a race or two, if not we accept the race ban and points deduction.

Matter Closed

Christian Horner
RBR Team Principle